so heres my somewhat shortened review as im dead tired and had a nightmare time getting back to nyc. HATE HATE HATE CONTINENTAL!
loved the polyphonic spree. i dont know how they didnt connect, but the near top of the hillside everyone was dancing away, singing along, and the nirvana cover was beautiful. i left feeling very happy!
started the day with the fratellis, whom i had been dying to see. was very disappointed. no energy, and just werent what i was expecting.
for those that didnt check out the bmi stage that is where the best bands were, and also the best place to see bands. lots of shade, lots of trees and lots of unknown bands. inward eye, from canada, put on a really great show. 3 brothers who rocked out for 45 mins. and it ended with them passing out cds. was pretty cool. they were excited about the canadians that showed up to support them. was a bit disappointed with wax on radio, but i was glad to have caught them. i had seen sspu before and cant remember who they were up against, but was going for the shade route.
heard the switches going in. liked what i heard. saw ghostland observatory, and that was entertaining. but i was pretty hot, so was sitting way back on the grass. lead singer is out of control, and a great dancer
managed to get up quite close, since it wasnt too crowded, and danced along to their fun set. im dying to see them again.
saw tapes n tapes. liked their stuff, but wasnt blown away by them. good, solid set. music wasnt quite what i was expecting, but hadnt heard much of their stuff either. heard part of ludo walking to the im from barcelona set, and they sounded great. wished i had caught more of it. saw some of silverchair - good stuff. they were rocking from what i could tell in my 15 mins or so. then headed to the nightmare called cold war kids. their set wasnt a nightmare, but the whole stage was way too small for them. the place was overflowing with people, and from where i was it was impossible to see, but somewhat hard to hear. not exactly what i was expecting from them. hard to believe they were on the same stage as Arckid, who was basically unknown.
CSS cancelled. was way disappointed, but the good news was - found this band called Back Door Slam from Isle of Man. The guys in the band are nothing short of rock geniuses. The lead singer is Stevie Ray Vaughan reincarnated. a really talented blues guitarist, who literally looked possessed when he played. hed close his eyes, and his hands worked magic on the guitar. i dont know if he realizes how greatly talented he is, because he seemed embarrassed/surprised, with the crowd response. they were really catching on to others nearby because the area got more and more crowded. isle of man knows how to rock apparently!
then was off to see snow patrol. im so in love with gary, that it really didnt matter what he'd have done. he was very chatty, dedicating some songs to 'spiderman from ireland'. loved seeing nikki join him on stage. sang along to the songs, and had a great time. then amazingly the crowd disappeared, and i was in the near front for interpol.
interpol didnt disappoint. i guess if youre not a fan of their live shows, this wouldnt be your thing. interpol's new stuff sounds brilliant. paul sounded really great and tore through a pretty decent set. loved the fact that it was a good chunk of their first album. 'slow hands' and 'evil' had the crowd going nuts. from the start of 'Rosemary Heaven restores you in life' it was quite cool with everyone singing along. the front part of the stage was filled with a mix of hardcore fans and really young fans from different areas of the world. was standing next to a young girl from canada, who had never seen them before. thought she was going to go nuts just waiting. really irritated with the people who were trying to do anything they could to move forward. they werent going to get passed kurosawa and i, no matter how hard they tried. i was quite happy ending the night with interpol.
from what i could hear of patti smith, she sounded really great. shes playing in nyc in a month or so, so i think ill try and catch her here.
sun: caught part of the graduate. a band from springfield, il. very radio-friendly pop music. was ok, but i should have just seen white rabbits. instead caught part of the postmarks, which just wasnt doing it for me. lead singer has a great voice, but it was a bit too mellow to start my sunday. didnt help with the mess of the weather, with it getting very muggy and humid early in the day. caught part of juliette & the licks. cant say im a fan of her music, but juliette lewis is a pretty kick ass- lead singer. she had the crowd in the palm of her hands, and she was working them over!
headed over to the cribs after. was right up front, as no one was there. good stuff, but the weather was getting to me. and they really arent made for that large of a stage. it was too big for them. better in a club, id imagine. so i headed over towards the back and laid down in the sun, and felt much better with the ice cold water dripping everywhere. then heard some of dios. liked what i had heard.
headed over to see rodrigo y gabriela (THANKS ROB!). they were nothing short of amazing. watching gabriela's fingers fly over the guitar she creates magic. the two of them were insane! played some hendrix, pink floyd, zepp, metallica (should have played more of the song - "enter sandman" i believe). just amazing to watch. somehow at that moment, the sun didnt seem as strong (although i know it was), but it was like being transported somewhere else while listening to them. i must say i loved when rodrigo mentioned something about how we should feel free to get naked. LOL.
then headed to the stage nearby and heard some of los campesinos. they were hving awful sound problems, which sucked, but they were much more energetic than i thought. the lead singer jumped into the crowd at the end and was dancing with everyone. was quite awesome! i fell asleep to some of their set lying in the grass. heard some of amy winehouse, with the sound probs los campesinos was having. they did mention her at one point, saying 'we can hear our neighbor amy winehouse'. or something to that effect.
next: caught some of the diffs - didnt care for them, so left - i think they describe themselves as surf/punk from LA. heard some of blue october, but too much sound bleed from the set next door (annuals), so took off to see some of paolo nutini - liked what i had heard, and heard some of apostle of hustle - not my cup of tea.
then heard some of kings of leon. not my thing, but they sounded good. managed to get almost near the very front for !!!. danced my ass off, and was sure i was about to pass out. good, fun set. loved seeing shannon rip off her clothes. the fight breaking out up front was insane. no clue what happened there. !!! really played well at the festival and they had a dance party going on for their set. hung around the stage, and was in very front for tv on the radio. by the time my morning jacket was over (whose songs seem to last forever), i was near dead and moved a little back. loved tv on the radio. very short set, but what a set it was! it seemed everyone was there trying to check them out, before pearl jam went on.
pearl jam were incredible. i loved eddies song about boycotting bp/arco and saving the lake. i stayed for about an hour of the set, and it was like a greatest hits album. the whole area was packed with everyone - young and old - singing along and rocking out.
all in all. lolla was great for me. loved hanging out with friends i dont normally get to see and we had a blast. was sorry i couldnt meet up with a few others, but my schedule was insanity at best. jumping all over the place made it hard to meet with others except those who knew when/where id be.
cant wait for next year. hotel 71 was really nice. great huge room at a reasonable price, with an amazing river view.
so - kurosawa - we're so there next year!
